Leaders Don't Die
by Scales-and-Squares
Summary: Death is a cruel thing. You think you're out of its clutches, but you are always in its claws. But sometimes, just sometimes, you can find a crack, just big enough to let hope squeeze through.


Hiccup wept over his father's body. He didn't notice his mother's hand rest over his shoulder. He didn't notice Toothless and the other dragons fly away. All he could think about was his father. _Stoick._ Wh hadn't Hiccup spent more time with him? Granted, the first 15 years of his life they avoided each other, but what about after that?

He was always busy taking care of the Dragon Academy, or Dragon's Edge, or Viggo, or Alvin, or Dagur, or Johan. But even then, what about all the time he spent doing nothing, staring out the window? And now he was gone. And Hiccup never got the chance to say goodbye.

Suddenly the air seemed colder. Hiccup looked up and saw snow lightly falling, coating the land in a freezing blanket. But it was the color that startled him. Blue. It seemed like a cruel joke now. What had Snotlout said, all those years back, when Hiccup was barely 12?

"_The snow will turn blue as Gobber's nose the day __**you**_ _become chief, Hiccup."_

Dimly, he heard his mother say, "It's not his fault, Hiccup. Good dragons, under the control of bad people, do bad things."

-Scales-and-Squares-

Hiccup watched as the boat holding Stoick's body exploded into flames.

_I'm sorry, dad._ He thought glumly. _I failed you. I failed mom. I failed Berk._

And then, out of nowhere, he heard a voice.

_**No, you didn't, son.**_

Startled, Hiccup looked around. Everyone was mourning. It seemed like no one else had heard the voice.

_**I'm proud of you, Hiccup. You were right. You'll never become me. You'll be even better.**_

_I can never be better than you, dad._

_**You already are, son. You're brave, selfless, generous, and most of all, you never give up without a fight. Now, why don't ya teach Drago who the real dragon master is?**_

Hiccup raised his head and watched the sun sink into the sea. He wouldn't give up. For his father. For Berk. For Toothless. He turned toward his friends and mother, determined.

"A chief protects his own. But an Alpha protects them all. We're going back."

-Scales-and-Squares-

_**BERK**_

_**ONE MONTH LATER**_

It had been a month since the battle with Drago. A month since Hiccup had become chief. And a month since his father had died. Hiccup rarely slept, too busy adjusting with his role as chief. But when he did sleep, he had nightmares.

Sometimes Toothless destroyed all of Berk while in Drago's command. Sometimes his mother died. But the most common one was Stoick being killed, again and again, always at Drago's mercy. He always woke up sweating and scared.

But this time, it was different. Instead of seeing Stoick's fallen body in front of him, Hiccup saw a dragon as red as blood, large and hefty. It was fierce, for sure. But the strangest thing was its eyes. Instead of the normal glowing neon colors of the dragons, they were a soft blue, just like his father's.

_Very eeril_y alike.

Hiccup was woken from his strange dream by a roar coming from outside. Hiccup looked through his window to see the exact dragon from his dreams flying away, illuminated by the soft moonlight. He could have sworn the dragon nodded stiffly at him just like his father would as it flew away.

Bewildered, Hiccup went back to bed. For the rest of his life, Hiccup never had another nightmare about his father again. Why, you ask? Well, dear reader, the answer is simple. Because that day, he learned a very important lesson. He learned that a good leader would never, _ever _die.

**AN: Also, it doesn't make sense how Hiccup's face became grief-stricken to determined in half a second. So this is my little explanation. Please review! And this might become a two-shot, but for now, it remains a one-shot. It all depends on you dudes! Or dudettes. Okay, so answering your question, the blue snow thing came from the book series, but I changed it a bit, so*shrug* Anyway, I'm so sorry for taking a long time to update! But now the story is over. Please R&R!**


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